There is no pretence anymore. Nigeria has never been at such crossroads as another monster of gargantuan size and stature – ritual killing for money – bulldozes its way into the national psyche, staring every one in the face. It has the dimension of a national malaise. Denying this evil is awful, fruitless and needless. That is the reality many are now slowly, but regrettably beginning to acknowledge.
Over the past years, abduction of people has been on the rise. Some individuals simply vanished without any trace. A few who managed to return home alive have told nightmarish and unbelievable tales of what they saw in camps where they were taken to. There, victims were dismembered right before their own eyes in such a gruesomely mindless orgy, leaving their blood streaming down in rivulets. Their essential parts were chopped off there and then, and kept away for customer who needed them.
At the centre of this burgeoning human parts trade are men and women who prepare charms to enable them make money they did not work for. When they cannot buy already-harvested parts, they abduct their victims, kill them, and later discard their remains. Then in collaboration with their juju doctors, they proceed to use what they have for “money rituals,” as it is now called in street parlance. How that works, remains a mystery that might take science an age to unravel.
